A Spirit's Death
by nicknamewizard
Summary: What happens to a StarClan cat's soul when it dies? As the time approaches when the last living cat will forget Gray Wing, his friends and family gather for one final goodbye. Not all the character are tagged, but this short story focuses on Gray Wing, Clear Sky, and Thunder many generations after they join StarClan.


A/N - Thought I should mention that this story is also posted on my Warriors Amino account. My name there is Tealecat if anyone is interested.

Where do we go when we die? What happens to the essence of us, that vital life-force that animates and awakens our bodies of dust and stone? To what immortal realm does that swift shadow ascend; what fate awaits the incorporeal?

What happens to the soul when it is forgotten?

A gibbous moon cast the trees of StarClan in a silver silhouette, each leaf and twig outlined in a stark contrast to the darkened sky. The breath of greenleaf rustled the forest grass and set the aspens to their nightly whispering. Such a night would normally be one of peace and solitary reflection for the denizens of StarClan, but tonight was different. The night wind, typically warm, now felt cold, and the canopy of moonlit leaves felt oppressing.

A group of cats was gathering near the edges of a clearing. Sweet summer flowers made a ring where the trees ended and the soft grass began, but no cat would stop to enjoy their scent tonight. They waited with a quiet and mournful air, attention directed towards a shimmery outline in the center of the clearing. The shape of a cat appeared to be gazing at the sky, his eyes searching for unknowable answers. He made a lonely sight, that faded figure.

Two cats approached him, a powerful orange tom and a dignified white elder. Though they were spirits also, they were solid and strong, the power of living memories keeping them whole. They sat on either side of the gray shadow, lending him a warmth that he could no longer feel.

"I never believed I would live to see this day, even when my heart beat with the rhythm of the living. To watch you die twice, Gray Wing… I fear it will be more than I can bear," the white tom intoned.

Gray Wing rested his ethereal tail across his brother's shoulders. "I do not fear my death, Clear Sky," he meowed, his voice as quiet as the wind. "It is right that when I am forgotten, I can finally fade from this world. I'll be at peace."

"Absence of consciousness isn't peace," the orange cat, Thunder, spoke, "it's just void. It's nothing. It's not fair that you are forgotten when you gave so much." Thunder raked the ground with his claws, ears drawn back in barely-disguised misery.

The shadowy spirit chuckled. "It was you who led the Clans, not I. Thunderstar and Skystar, along with the others. I'm afraid I simply followed."

"Gray Wing, you brought us peace!" Thunder protested. "You brought us compassion, and family, those were the principles the warrior code was founded on. We'd be nothing without you."

At that moment, the first rays of sun peeked into the clearing, rendering Gray Wing nearly invisible in the pre-dawn light. The moon had sunk below the tree line as night slowly gave way to morning. The gray cat rested his muzzle on his adopted son's head for the final time. "I've always followed the sun's trail, and it has never led me astray. I must follow one last time. I'm ready for the end."

His voice sighed into the wind, and as the sun finally broke over the forest, the spirit of Gray Wing scattered into the air like dandelion seeds, drifting in the breeze and dancing on sunbeams until it was no more.

The grief in the clearing was palpable. The few remaining spirits who had known Gray Wing in life bowed their heads as if the pain of his departure was a physical weight. Thunder and Clear Sky alone raised their eyes to the sky, watching the sun rise, and knowing that it would always guide them home.

Gray Wing had been forgotten by the living cats, but his soul had returned to matter, to the dust and the Earth and the plants and the heart of every cat. He was compassion and integrity and love and cooperation and peace. He was the dancing sunlight on still water, and the whisper of a leaf as it fell to the ground. A spirit's death is nothing less than a return to the soul of the Earth. Gray Wing was home.


End file.
